Weird DL vs KE pricing when travelling on KE metal.
 

I am looking at flying from SFO>ICN>SFO nonstop on KE next month, and there is a huge difference in the Business Class fares. KE is quoting $3,892 RT and DL is quoting $11,827 RT on the same flights (it's a DL code share). Why is there a $7,935 difference comparing the fares on DL.com vs Koreanair.com? I understand that there is probably going to be a difference in the Base/Bonus Miles, MQDs and MQMs awarded, but not $7,935 worth! Why don't these fares match? Utterly ridiculous!

Different and independent revenue management (so far).

Implicitly a different market too, as people in Korea are more likely to purchase from KE while USA residents are more likely to buy from DL.

Fares don't match because DL and KE don't yet have an anti-trust-immunized JV that would allow them to coordinate fares (and capacity and schedules).

Until the JV is fully vested KE and DL are still frenimies. They haven't even moved KE to a group 1 partnership yet.

Why would they match? :confused::confused: There is absolutely no reason for them to match other than coincidental. The whole marketing deal with codeshare is that each can sell others' seats under their own fare/condition/availability. Even with integrated partners like DL/AF/KL, fares don't often match.

If the fares aren't the same, then why bother code-sharing? Does DL really believe that someone will pay $7,935 more, for the same seat on the same flight, booked at DL.com?

Fly America Act. The marketing carrier matters, so business travelers being reimbursed from federal sources can, for example, take a KE operated flight if it's sold as a codeshare using a DL flight number. To me, this greatly violates the spirit of the regulation, but it's the rule.

If fares are the same, then why bother codesharing? :confused: DL can sell KE coded flights on KE metal without codesharing.

Yes, and DL is making billions.;)

+1.:-: Government employees as well as government contractors will book on those DL coded flights.;) Your tax dollars at work.:p

Yep. In many circumstances, government travelers are required to pay more. On some routes, I suspect that it's a not insignificant segment of the market. A couple such passengers per day on average make it well worthwhile for airlines to bother with the codeshares.

KE like has a seat quota that they are required to sell on the codeshare (or a specific number of seats they've already purchased at a given price) and their RM has determined they need to sell into lower inventory buckets or for a lower price to make sure they sell their allotted seats.

DL meanwhile could have sold out their lower inventory buckets for that flight so they've moved to higher fare buckets and higher prices.

It's not the bucket inventory, it's right in the fare rules. The cheaper fare classes have the following:

THE FARE COMPONENT MUST INCLUDE TRAVEL VIA TRANSPACIFIC
SECTORS ON
ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING
ANY DL FLIGHT OPERATED BY DL.

You need to buy a B or higher for coach or a J fare in order for the fare to permit KE operated flights on the TPAC sector:

THE FARE COMPONENT MUST INCLUDE TRAVEL VIA TRANSPACIFIC
SECTORS ON
ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING
ANY DL FLIGHT OPERATED BY DL
ANY DL FLIGHT OPERATED BY KE.

So will I earn any MQMs on the KE operated flights from SFO>ICN>SFO which are also code-shared with DL...SFO>ICN KE024/DL7861...ICN>SFO KE025/DL7891? I know I'll earn 100% Base Miles, and don't need the MQDs!

Are they booked under the KE or DL flight number? (IIRC sometimes the ticket stock matters too.)

I'll be booking it under the KE flight #s , and saving the $7,935 difference that I would have to pay DL just to get MQDs, which as I already mentioned I don't need, and MQMs!